CHAPTER XVI 

 LOCAL SUPERSTITIONS 



How well do I remember our country when all the 

 lunatics were at large ! There were no asylums, and 

 there was no cure except the great and only possible 

 one of Loch Maree. The cure was still in vogue in my 

 time. The patient was brought to the loch and put into 

 a boat, which made at once for the Holy Island (Eilean 

 Maree) . Then a long rope was tied round the unlucky 

 person's waist, and he or she was suddenly dropped 

 into the water and dragged behind the boat three times 

 round the island, taking the car deasal (the way of the 

 sun) being a very important part of the cure ! The 

 crew rowed for all they were worth, and if the patient 

 was still alive and capable of swallowing anything he 

 was landed on the island, and as if he had not got already 

 more than sufficient water inside him, he was made to 

 swallow a lot more from Naomh Maolruaidh's (Saint 

 Malrubas) Holy Well. The awful shock and the fear 

 of having it repeated did, I believe, occasionally subdue 

 some of the most violent cases, but it was a cruel ordeal, 

 and quite an example of " kill or cure/' 



We had two mad Marys always going about Gairloch 

 — Mairi Chreagan (Mary of the Rock) and Mairi Sganan. 

 Each one thought the other very mad and herself quite 



sane, and whenever they met they fought like wild cats. 



223 



